Boxed Water: Better Than Bottled Water?
- Posted by: Zach Frechette
- on March 26, 2009 at 8:38 pm
In our ongoing effort here at GOOD (Casey’s Crusade, as I like to call it) to make you feel slightly bad about drinking bottled water, and as part of the continuing cultural trend of putting things in boxes (see wine, and dicks), may I present a new alternative: boxed water. It’s like drinking water from a bottle, only instead of a bottle, it’s a box.
The creators of Boxed Water is Better say the packaging is more sustainable, and the carbon footprint for distribution is up to 80 percent smaller than with bottled water (I know, I was skeptical too—cartons are that much better than bottles?—but they have provided this moderately convincing PDF). To further back up their mission—”Creating a new bottled water brand that is kinder to the environment and gives back a bit”—they will donate 10 percent of profits to water relief foundations, and another ten percent to reforestation foundations (both TBD, according to their FAQ). This took a step away from “art project” and toward “commercial product” when it started distributing locally in Wisconsin.
Is this a half measure? It’s certainly not doing anything to curtail bottled water purchasing, which is a stated goal of many in the environmental movement. But I like solutions that don’t disregard the way people actually live their lives in favor of unrealistic (if not idealistic) proposals.
DISCUSSION: 31 Comments
Oh gag me. Just drink from the tap for christ’s sake, you pay the taxes on the damn infrastructure, might as well use it.
10% of profits? Try 50% – http://www.project7.com. Now THAT’S commitment.
Agreed. Why would anyone pay for water as long as they have a reliable clean method of getting it for free??
There’s no point being unrealistic. there will always be some kind of demand for convenience water. you will never get the whole world drinking all their water from taps. so this is a brilliant idea. the 80% improvement is very believable. the box makes more efficient use of space than the bottle as it wastes no space. Also, empty bottles are shipped to be filled in their full form, whereas these boxes can be shipped to filled in their flat pack form.
bluntmannn123,Where abouts do you live? I know here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, we have awful smelling and tasting tap water. We have to pass it through filters to make it drinkable, which is what my wife and I do. Don’t assume that everyone’s tap water is as palatable as yours.
@Moebius: You are right man, I did not take into consideration the people who don’t have tasty tap water. I live in Maine. Have you tried running a cost benefit analysis on whether it is more efficent to buy prefiltered bottled tap water(Poland Spring e.g), or to filter the stuff that comes out of your home tap and put it in a glass?
How much is one of these boxes? definitely agree with drinking our tap water, even if we have to filter it… that way there is no carbon footprint.
What about recycling?
Moebius: “We have to pass it through filters to make it drinkable, which is what my wife and I do.” In all seriousness, why doesn’t everybody do this? It’s what my family does — buying a Brita water filter pitcher is way cheaper than buying bottled/cartoned water and makes more sense environmentally. It’s a nice idea that they’re making cartoned water if the carbon footprint is smaller, but I frankly find it a little disturbing that even water, the most basic of necessities, is commercialized in a capitalist economy. What’s next, bottled air when the smog catches up with us?
Interesting concept. In some areas cartons can be recycled. But this has a mix of products ‘paper’ and plastic, making it unrecyclable unless you go through the routine of separating the two components. Why not go to a container composed of ‘paper’ like the milk cartons?
A large majority of the world may be using filter, Hatoyama, but what happens when westerners travel to 3rd world countries where they think twice before they even drink from a locally manufactured mineral water bottle and insist on Evian… Anything that is making things better for the environment without seriously affecting peoples lifestyles will have a greater accepatbility in the public.!
In spite of the discussion sins I’m about to commit (not researching before posting), I have a question:From where is the paper coming, how do they manufacture it and what is the footprint of the overall process?If they buy a plastic bottle, at least it is reusable. Or…SIGG’s
Paper can only be recycled 6 times. Is this catering to human behavior really going to do any Good? Price of bottled water goes up, behavior changes. That’s just the way it is. I’m thinking a sin tax on products that are bad for the environment…but still, at least those plastic bottles are reusable…
ITS IN A FUCKING TETRA PAK- A DELIBERATELY NON RECYCLABLE PACKAGING!!
So many of you are missing the entire point of this boxed water concept. I did some research because I was really on the same side of the fence as most of you guys, and the benefits of boxed water significantly outweigh its relatively small drawbacks. When you compare those with the pros/cons of bottled water, you will see that boxed water would have an infinitely smaller carbon footprint than that of its plastic counterpart.Apparently, less than 3% (if I remember correctly) of all plastic bottles are recycled which leads to staggering statistics such as billions of water bottles going into the waste system every day, the epic difference in emissions created by transporting bottled water vs boxed, and of course the amount of toxic chemicals used in the production of all these plastic bottles. Boxed water is certainly not the answer, but it would be a vast improvement from the bottled water industry’s current disregard for the environment. Also, the boxed packaging may not be recyclable in ALL areas yet, but it is expected to be accepted in all facilities soon.This company is simply offering a much more environmentally reasonable alternative to the dilemma posed by the demand of conveniently packaged water.
Anon, a tetra pack is lined with foil and plastic. This says it’s in a milk carton. There is a difference.
I’m from Fort Worth, TX and I only drink tap water when I’m there. But, while going to school in a different state, I can not handle the water at all. Recently, I got a notice attaached with my water bill concerning the high amounts of arsenic in the water in town. Scary? I’ve also had friends that have gotten kidney stones from the high calcium amounts in this college town’s water system. I would NEVER drink the tap water here… you can see the calcium deposits floating in your glass. EWW!
[...] know why I’m surprised, but really? I’m sure it really is better for the earth. GOOD Magazine Blog had this posted and someone at work passed it around. Why not just get water out of a tap and if [...]
WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!
just wanted to point out that unless you have a well on your property using the municiple water source is not free
Just a few points: 1) I would just like to know if Aquafina, etc use Pur or Brita (40% of bottled water is PWS filtered) 2) Unless you don’t use the minimum number of gallons that you are charged for each month on your water bill, tap water is not free (it’s not as expensive maybe, but it’s not free 3) the water in my town comes from the river and they have to put so much chlorine in it to make it usable we get warnings each month 4) I know some towns where the sulfur content is really high — ever try to drink water that smells like a rotten egg? 5) the water may leave a water plant as drinkable but what about the pipes it goes through to get to your house? Have you ever left water in a dish for a day and then found the black residue at the bottom? My point is that both tap water and bottled water have their place. Time to find the balance. Personally, I use a Brita filter for home and office, and bottled water when traveling or going to ball games, etc.
Why not just drink tap water?
evian water. best of the best. i wouldnt have it any othe way
Aquafina and Dasani both start as tap water but are filtered very highly before being bottled. They are far superior to Evian. I test water for a living. Evian is one of the dirtiest bottled waters out there. Look for bottled water that’s been through reverse osmosis filtering. And Brita filters are good carbon filters but don’t filter out desolved solids like limestone.
we make water from the AIR and then bottle it in a self contained system. We save ground water and plastic bottles and bottle our own in re-useable containers..